NI will do far better under direct rule

Maurice Fitzgerald

Unionists should give up on devolution and power-sharing because Sinn Féin will never be happy until Northern Ireland is not part of the United Kingdom.

Unionists should go to the British government and tell them what they have probably said to themselves many times — regional government is not working.

How long more can this farcical charade go on with countless unresolved issues?

The dog and pony show is going on since the Belfast Agreement was signed in 1998 and it is as hopeless as ever. Impasse after impasse, deadlock after deadlock, in an never-ending cycle of bringing down the institutions.

Unionists want self-governance, however Sinn Féin are not really that interested in devolution. Only if they can get their way with endless demands and concessions leading up a major constitutional shift and preferably a British withdrawal.

Brexit was a terrible blow to Sinn Féin and caused them to resign from the Executive. It reaffirmed Northern Ireland’s position in the United Kingdom and gave no status to the EU flag or any influence by its federal laws or directives.

It was a dreadful setback to republicans and one which caused them to throw power-sharing out the window. The dogma that republicans went on with for so long by insisting they were “committed to the institutions” was not borne out and they were only too happy to leave them when it suited them.

Sinn Féin are also using demagoguery such as highlighting issues in the current impasse which are designed to cast the DUP in a bad light, for a decision Sinn Féin made.

LGBT issues were recently brought to bear by Sinn Féin, so they could divert attention from the Gaelic language and legacy issues, which were not capturing much public support for them.

Republicans seem to be desperate at this stage and it is time for unionists to call it a day.

The only future for Northern Ireland is direct rule which will fast become a reality when discussions are exhausted and can go no further.

Devolution is never going to work because Sinn Féin ultimately do not want it. They want a 32 county unified state. This is their only goal, with the rest just being a means to that end.

Devolution is dead and it is high time unionists made the bell toll, irrespective of how Downing Street may feel.

Even where devolution seemed to plunder along, it was rife with trouble in addition to ongoing paramilitarism outside democratic institutions, which made no impact.

Direct-rule is stable at least, instead of derisory institutions which were ineffective at dealing with administrative matters. The RHI scandal was proof of that.

Northern Ireland will do far better under direct rule.

Devolution has done nothing for the people in Northern Ireland, only give them a half-baked system indefinitely on the blink.

The British government need to get real — devolution is not going to work and there is no point in hoping against hope any longer.